Bills Wood
Encyclopedia
Bills Wood is a Local Nature Reserve
and Park located in Shirley
, Solihull
. It covers an area of approximately 6.6 hectares (16.3 acre) and consists of a square parcel of woodland surrounded by residential suburbs. To the east the wood is bounded by the school playing fields of Light Hall School. A wide range of plants and animals makes the wood an important urban space, and was therefore granted Local Nature Reserve status in 1991
trees dominating the main canopy, along with Sycamore and Ash. The woodland also has an understorey of Holly
and Hawthorn
, with some Ash, Rowan
and Hazel
. At ground level there is mainly Bramble
and Ivy
with some Bluebells
and Bracken
. There are occasional banks and ditches that divide the woodland in places, and signs of previous coppicing, in particular there is an old bank and ditch along the east side of the wood with some old oak coppice. The wood is included on the Ancient Woodland Inventory, as compiled by the Nature Conservancy Council
.
Local Nature Reserve
Local nature reserve or LNR is a designation for nature reserves in the United Kingdom. The designation has its origin in the recommendations of the Wild Life Conservation Special Committee which established the framework for nature conservation in the United Kingdom and suggested a national suite...
and Park located in Shirley
Shirley, West Midlands
Shirley is a district of the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull, in the county of West Midlands, England. It is a residential and shopping neighbourhood, and a suburb of Solihull.-History:...
, Solihull
Solihull
Solihull is a town in the West Midlands of England with a population of 94,753. It is a part of the West Midlands conurbation and is located 9 miles southeast of Birmingham city centre...
. It covers an area of approximately 6.6 hectares (16.3 acre) and consists of a square parcel of woodland surrounded by residential suburbs. To the east the wood is bounded by the school playing fields of Light Hall School. A wide range of plants and animals makes the wood an important urban space, and was therefore granted Local Nature Reserve status in 1991
Nature
The woodland is a mixed broadleaved woodland, with predomiantly mature OakOak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...
trees dominating the main canopy, along with Sycamore and Ash. The woodland also has an understorey of Holly
Holly
Ilex) is a genus of 400 to 600 species of flowering plants in the family Aquifoliaceae, and the only living genus in that family. The species are evergreen and deciduous trees, shrubs, and climbers from tropics to temperate zones world wide....
and Hawthorn
Crataegus
Crataegus , commonly called hawthorn or thornapple, is a large genus of shrubs and trees in the rose family, Rosaceae, native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere in Europe, Asia and North America. The name hawthorn was originally applied to the species native to northern Europe,...
, with some Ash, Rowan
Rowan
The rowans or mountain-ashes are shrubs or small trees in genus Sorbus of family Rosaceae. They are native throughout the cool temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, with the highest species diversity in the mountains of western China and the Himalaya, where numerous apomictic microspecies...
and Hazel
Hazel
The hazels are a genus of deciduous trees and large shrubs native to the temperate northern hemisphere. The genus is usually placed in the birch family Betulaceae, though some botanists split the hazels into a separate family Corylaceae.They have simple, rounded leaves with double-serrate margins...
. At ground level there is mainly Bramble
Bramble
Brambles are thorny plants of the genus Rubus, in the rose family . Bramble fruit is the fruit of any such plant, including the blackberry and raspberry. The word comes from Germanic *bram-bezi, whence also German Brombeere , Dutch Braam and French framboise...
and Ivy
Ivy
Ivy, plural ivies is a genus of 12–15 species of evergreen climbing or ground-creeping woody plants in the family Araliaceae, native to western, central and southern Europe, Macaronesia, northwestern Africa and across central-southern Asia east to Japan and Taiwan.-Description:On level ground they...
with some Bluebells
Common Bluebell
Hyacinthoides non-scripta, commonly known as the common bluebell, is a spring-flowering bulbous perennial plant. -Taxonomy:...
and Bracken
Bracken
Bracken are several species of large, coarse ferns of the genus Pteridium. Ferns are vascular plants that have alternating generations, large plants that produce spores and small plants that produce sex cells . Brackens are in the family Dennstaedtiaceae, which are noted for their large, highly...
. There are occasional banks and ditches that divide the woodland in places, and signs of previous coppicing, in particular there is an old bank and ditch along the east side of the wood with some old oak coppice. The wood is included on the Ancient Woodland Inventory, as compiled by the Nature Conservancy Council
Nature Conservancy Council
The Nature Conservancy Council was a United Kingdom government agency responsible for designating and managing National Nature Reserves and other nature conservation areas in Great Britain between 1973 and 1991 ....
.